A new Kroger grocery store located at 3444 Plaza Ave. near the University District is a much larger and more modern version of its counterpart next door. The new store opened March 20, and it is in total 90,000 square feet compared to just 55,000 to the old store. The new Kroger emphasizes a larger natural and organic foods section for healthier eating and also is more of a family ‘take the kids along’ type of grocery due to the build-your-own cupcake section. The sheer size of the Kroger may be overwhelming at first, but everything is conveniently placed and properly labeled to make shopping as easy as possible for seasoned grocery shoppers to college students newly acclimated to feeding themselves. The only down side of the new Kroger is parking, which should be a little easy later this spring when the old Kroger is torn down to open up more parking.

Sherwood Forest subdivision is located in East Memphis and is a neighborhood inside the University District. Its boundaries are Park Avenue to the north, Rhodes Avenue to the south, South Highland Street, Radford Road and South Prescott Street to the west and Getwell Road to the east. The neighboorhood was developed in eight phases which originally contained 642 houses. Developers for the various phases were William L. Taylor and H. Price Curd and the Boyle Investment Company, doing business as the Sherwood Building Corporation. The cost of the new homes in the 1940s ranged from $6,400 to $10,500. The neighborhood contains three churches, one of which is for sale, and is home to Sherwood Elementary School, which is a Memphis city school. Sherwood Forest is known for having street names from the fictional tale Robin Hood. The neighborhood contains street names such as Robin Hood Lane, Friar Tuck Road, Nottingham Place, Maid Marion Lane, Little John Road, Allendale Lane and Will Scarlet Road.

A new Checkers drive in opened late April at the corner of Park and Getwell next to the Bank of America. The Checkers and Rally’s franchise has been in the restaurant business since 1986. The first Checkers opened 1986 in Mobile, Ala., and Rally’s opened in 1985 in Louisville, Ky. The two restaurants merged in 1999 after maintaining more than 200 locations across the Southeastern and Midwestern states. The merger made Checkers and Rally’s the largest double drive-thru restaurant chain in the country. The franchise now has an established network of more than 800 restaurants across the United States.

In the heart of exam time, student and faculty alike frantically scramble in and out of The Ned R. McWherter Library at all hours of the day and night. Little do University District residents know it is also open to the community. Residents of the University District who are not associated with The University of Memphis can request a Library Privileges Card at the McWherter Library Circulation Desk. The library has 725 network connections throughout the building, including study carrels, group study rooms and the Learning Commons. Wireless connectivity is provided throughout the building on all four floors. It is located west of Zach Curlin Drive and south of Norriswood Avenue. It is open Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m to midnight, Fridays 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 10 p.m.